Battle Reenactment Marking the Anniversary of the Withdrawal of Soviet Troops from the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

Historical Background

The combat duties of the Motorised Manoeuvre Groups (MMGs) consisted of patrols and reconnaissance and search operations within their areas of responsibility. The MMGs were based at outposts equipped in the same manner as those of the 40th Army.
Air Assault Manoeuvre Groups were used to strike the enemy in mountainous terrain inaccessible to armoured vehicles and as rapid-reaction reinforcement units.
Organisationally, an Air Assault Manoeuvre Group consisted of a group headquarters, two air assault border outposts and support units.

Pyandzh Air Assault Manoeuvre Group — formed in 1982 and disbanded in 1991. (Border Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, Red Banner Central Asian Border District, Military Unit 2066)
Termez Air Assault Manoeuvre Group — formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. (Border Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, Red Banner Central Asian Border District, Military Unit 2099)
Kerki Air Assault Manoeuvre Group — formed in 1982 and disbanded in 1990. (Border Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, Red Banner Central Asian Border District, Military Unit 2042)
Moscow/Khorog Air Assault Manoeuvre Group — formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2005. (Border Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, Red Banner Central Asian Border District, Military Unit 2033)
Takhta-Bazar Air Assault Manoeuvre Group — formed in 1987 and disbanded in 1989. (Border Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, Red Banner Central Asian Border District, Military Unit 2072)
Eastern Air Assault Manoeuvre Group — formed in 1982 and disbanded in 1989. (Border Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, Red Banner Eastern Border District, Military Unit 9878)

In addition to Air Assault Manoeuvre Groups, the Border Troops of the KGB of the USSR employed special-purpose units provisionally designated Enhanced Combat Readiness Platoons.

Reenactment Scenario

In late November 1986, intelligence was received that armed opposition groups intended to shell the town of Pyandzh, where the Border Detachment was stationed, with rockets over the New Year period. The command decided to conduct a sweep of the border-area
Afghan villages to thwart the operation planned by the mujahideen. It was decided that the operation would be conducted by Motorised Manoeuvre Groups and Air Assault Manoeuvre Groups of the KGB Border Troops of the USSR.
Under pressure from the numerically superior border troops, the mujahideen began a panicked retreat, during which they encountered one of the Pyandzh Border Detachment’s outlying posts.
At the beginning of the Afghan War, the leadership of the Border Troops of the KGB of the USSR faced a complex problem. Every armed group in Afghanistan had come to regard the USSR as a hostile state. The usual practice of protecting the USSR state border through patrols and surveillance along the border did not guarantee the safety of Soviet civilians living in the border area. There was an urgent need for border troops to be present in the neighbouring country, at a considerable distance from the Afghan–Soviet border. In other words, the USSR state border had to be guarded and defended on both sides. It was decided to adopt the system of outpost security used by the 40th Army. The 40th Army’s outposts, positioned at key mountain passes and roads, restricted enemy movement and made it possible to monitor the situation across a larger area of Afghanistan.
The leadership of the Border Troops adopted the same approach. Ad hoc special units were formed within six border detachments of the Red Banner Central Asian Border District and the Operational Forces Group of the Red Banner Eastern Border District. These units provided outpost security in Afghanistan’s border zone.
Each border detachment deployed its regular Motorised Manoeuvre Groups permanently within Afghanistan, up to 100 kilometres from the border. Each border detachment operating along the Afghan–Soviet border comprised between three and six Motorised Manoeuvre Groups, one Air Assault Manoeuvre Group, and combat, technical and logistical support units. Unlike the Motorised Manoeuvre Groups, the Air Assault Manoeuvre Groups were usually based with the border detachment on Soviet territory and transported by helicopter across the state border to the locations of military operations. On average, a Motorised Manoeuvre Group comprised a headquarters, three or four border outposts, a signals platoon, a supply platoon, an anti-tank platoon, an engineer and sapper platoon, a reconnaissance platoon, a mortar battery and a medical post. Its strength could reach 300 personnel, practically equivalent to an army battalion.

“In view of the deteriorating situation on the Central Asian border, particularly in the Tajik sector, on 22 December 1981 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union adopted Resolution P32/81 authorising the deployment to the country of special units of the KGB Border Troops of the USSR, with a total strength of up to 8,000 personnel, operating up to 100 km inside the country and including provincial centres.”
(The USSR Border Troops in the War in Afghanistan)